Italian Tipo “00″ Flour Perfect for Pizza?

Since I returned from my trip to California, I have had several conversations with people in the shop about Tipo “00″ flour. Hence, our topic for today. Now, the simple answer to our title question is yes, if you are eating pizza in Naples, Italy or making it in a home wood fired oven, the flour makes a difference. For the rest of us, this question has a less direct answer. First, let’s look at what Tipo “00″ flour from Italy is in fact. [Tipo is the Italian word for type.]

The first and biggest misconception about this flour is that Tipo “00″ is pizza flour only. One must understand that Italian flour makers don’t classify flours in terms of their protein or gluten content as we do in the U.S.. Rather, they classify them by grind. The types of flour one will see are Integrale (or whole wheat), type “2″ flour the coarsest grind, followed by types “1″ and “0″ which are more medium grinds for bread flour. Type “00″ is the finest grind. In fact, Tipo “00″ flour can be used for bread, pizza and pastry. The flour for the latter can be very light and have gluten as low as 5%-7%. The best, and pretty much most widely available Italian pizza flour comes from Molino Caputo, has 10%-12% high quality gluten, and is selected and milled to make perfect pizza. However, looking at Molina Caputo’s web page, one finds 10 different “00″ flours which can be used for pizza or breads. The reason for this variation is that wheat, hard or soft, high gluten or low gluten, can be ground to any of these types. Which means that different “00″ flours can have any of a number of baking characteristics. In general though, the “00″ flour you see in specialty stores or online in the U.S. is roughly equivalent to our own all-purpose flour. It’s fairly high in gluten, and good for a lot of things. However not all gluten is created equal; some varieties of wheat contain gluten that is both hard and springy (like the North American hard red summer wheat) and make elastic doughs. Other types contain gluten that’s hard but not springy (Italian durum for example) which produce doughs that are firm but not as elastic. Most Italian flours are of the latter variety.

What does this all mean? It means that Italian flour produces breads that have “bite” but not “chew”. American high-gluten flour products have both “bite” and “chew”, but that’s not necessarily a good thing, depending on who you talk to. The Italians are aiming for a crust that has bite and little chew.

When buying this flour, you will find it difficult to find in great variety and will probably encounter only the type of “00″ flour to be used for pizza. Now this “problem” is easily remedied by the clever Italians who put a picture on the front of the bag which indicates what sort of flour it is intended for, such as a pizza or pastries.

Whether the flour makes big difference in making pizzas depends on how and where you are making pizza. Let me explain. The proper method for making a Vera Pizza Napoletana includes a wood burning oven, Tipo ’00′ flour, San Marzano (plum) tomatoes, all natural Fior-di-Latte or Bufala mozzarella, fresh basil, salt and yeast. Only fresh, all-natural, non-processed ingredients are acceptable. Pizza dough kneaded either by hand, or with a low speed mixer. No mechanical dough shaping, such as a dough press or rolling pins. Pizza Napoletana is not larger than 14″ with a raised edge crust and thin (.11 inch) center. Pizza baking time should not exceed 90 seconds in a wood-fired oven operating at roughly 800ºF. The pizza crust should be soft and elastic, and easily foldable, not hard or brittle.

Now outside of owning a wood burning oven in your backyard, or a coal fired oven, or a commercial sized electric oven, you will never come close to achieving these temperatures. The highest temperature I am aware of for a home oven or range is 550 to 600F. So therefore making a true Neapolitan pizza (Vera Pizza Napoletana) at home is impossible.

You can however make some darn tasty pizza.

I normally use a good quality, unbleached, unbromated all purpose flour for making my pizzas. Some suggest a combination of bread flour and all-purpose flour to acheive the “correct” consistency. I am fine with ArrowHead Mills organic All-purpose. Experiment and find what you like best. Now, I have also used Tipo “00″ flour.

What are the differences? The first thing I noticed with the “00″ flour was that it required slightly more liquid than I was used to using. Normally I use olive oil in my pizza dough, but it was not a favorable addition with “00″ flour, at least without additional water reduction.

I found later on that the dough had a really fantastic elasticity to it. What this means ultimately is that one can stretch that dough thin without tearing easily, thereby keeping the middle or center appropriately thin.

Now as for the baking aspect, I noticed that the finished pizza lacked the slightly wheat taste that comes with all-purpose or bread flour. This “00″ dough/crust would absorb the smoky, charred tastes from the 800 degree wood or coal oven well. Without this very hot, smoky baking environment, I found the crust slightly more bland than I am used to from my home pizzas. This isn’t bad or good per se, but I found I was used to the wheaty taste from my pizza crust.

The crust was crisp and crunchy with a soft center. All in all it made a very good pizza. Again, without the flavors from a wood/coal oven, I think I prefer all-purpose or bread flour. A minor moment of bragging, I made my American pizza for my Italian friends (including their kids) using all-purpose flour and the pizza was inhaled and enjoyed. The kids (my biggest fear) ate with gusto and didn’t complain or ignore it as I would told was possible if they were unhappy.

And yes, I use a pizza stone, but using unglazed quarry tiles work well also. (How did this article become about pizza?) I do not like screens or pans with holes in them for baking pizza. The crust is far superior on a stone or tile. If you don’t get a crisp crust from the stone, you probably aren’t letting it get hot enough before putting the pie on it. I let mine heat for at least an hour at the highest oven setting (555 for me).

One last thing to remember about making pizzas at home. You don’t live in Italy and aren’t claiming to make Denominazione D’Origine Controllata (DOC) certified pizza. So you and I are free to add things to our pizza crust like cornmeal, herbs, sun dried tomatoes and whatever strikes our fancy. You can also put any toppings on you want.

Use all-purpose flour, or “00″ flour, or bread flour and enjoy the variations. So what if you aren’t making proper Neapolitan pizza, just enjoy yourself.